GCN Circular 24045

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration report:

Our third observing run ("O3") began as scheduled on 2019 April 1 at 15:00
UTC. At that time the LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, and Virgo
Observatories transitioned from engineering and commissioning to
observing. All three detectors are operating at good sensitivity and
stability. We are analyzing data in low latency and processing candidate
transient events automatically.

As of April 2 20:00 UTC, we have configured our low-latency analysis
pipeline to send public alerts for significant gravitational-wave
transient candidates that are detected in coincidence across two or more
gravitational-wave detectors.

Automated Preliminary GCN Notices will be sent immediately without any
human intervention. Shortly afterward, they will be vetted by an LSC/Virgo 
rapid response team and either confirmed with an Initial GCN Notice and
Circular, or withdrawn with a Retraction.

Retraction notices may be issued more frequently over the next few weeks
as our understanding of the instrumental background improves.

For further information about vetting procedures, analysis methodology,
and the contents of LIGO/Virgo public alerts, refer to the LIGO/Virgo
Public Alerts User Guide <https://emfollow.docs.ligo.org/userguide/>.

This marks the beginning of the era of public alerts for the field of
gravitational-wave astronomy.